


Aligning stars - Lee Jordan x George Weasley

by smxlls11



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Era, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29175555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smxlls11/pseuds/smxlls11
Summary: Lee and George have been best friends since first year, constantly causing trouble along with George's twin, Fred.As the two suffer with many confusing thoughts and hurt, they are always by each other’s  side to help through it all and comfort each other when it feels like the world is falling apartGeorge values this friendship with his entire heart and soul, but as the years go on, he begins to realise that maybe his feelings aren't 100% platonic and his whole dynamic changes.
Relationships: Angelina Johnson/Fred Weasley, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Lee Jordan/George Weasley, Marcus Flint/Oliver Wood, Penelope Clearwater/Percy Weasley, Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood, adrian pucey/ lee jordan
Kudos: 22





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not support JKR in the slightest, this is just for fun because i love the harry potter world, not the author. <3

"George...GEORGE!"

George turned and buried his head in his pillow as an energetic Fred jumped on his bed and began shaking him.

"Wake up Georgie, first day at Hogwarts today! Gotta be prepared." His twin said excitedly, poking him and shaking his shoulders.

"gerroffme you git" He groaned in response, lazily slapping his twin, still half asleep with eyes unopened. "i'm getting up now."

"Just you wait until I can magic up some water" He laughed mischievously. "You'll be up before you can say aguamenti."

He flicked his wand with this last word, but due to his lack of practice nothing happened. George was thankful for this and giggled lightly as he shoved his brother, he was much more awake now.

"Get off you ginger twat" George laughed. "I can't get up if you're sitting on me like th- OOF- hey what was that for?!"

He felt the weight of Fred raising himself off George, chuckling to himself and attempting to escape before his twin could hit him back. The blanket rustling as he did so. George listened for a moment, hearing the telltale squeak of the floorboards as his brother's feet hit the ageing wood. He heard the hinges of the door groan closed. Just before it was fully shut, he heard Fred's voice call in.

"Don't be too long, I'm not waiting for you, you lazy sod."

George smiled at this, raising himself onto his elbows and rubbing the arm Fred had hit. The door slammed shut and the sound of the other boy's enthusiastic steps grew quieter as he ran down the stairs.

George allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts as he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on a knitted jumper and jeans. Fred had always been slightly more energetic and daring than George (only slightly though, don't get that wrong), he liked that they weren't the same.  
George reckoned he simply cared more for the wellbeing of others than his twin brother did. Although he enjoyed the mischief, he knew when to stop pushing the boundaries. Fred on the other hand, did not. The mix of Fred's fearlessness and George's cunningness made them destined for prankster royalty though, and George was excited to see what these next 7 years would bring.

He grabbed a small backpack, which he'd use to hold his lunch, some books and some other things to keep himself and Fred entertained on the train journey. He glanced around his shared room, making sure he had everything, and was hit with a sudden wave of emotion. He wouldn't be in this room till Christmas. It was the room he'd grown up in, the room in which himself and Fred came up with their best, worst and most impactful pranks. He'd have new people in his room, it wouldn't just be him and Fred anymore, everything was changing.  
This caused a sudden thought, the dorms. He knew he wouldn't mind sharing, he'd shared his space with Fred for eleven years now and knew he could pretty much sleep through anything, it was the fact that George may be split from Fred.

He knew in the back of his mind that he couldn't always rely on his twin, he knew that he would be able to power through the years without him. He simply wanted the home comfort that was his brother there. It was hard to comprehend how his three older brothers managed to go knowing no one, George felt he wouldn't have the strength to do that.

He walked down the rickety stairs towards the noisy kitchen, attempting to shake the anxiety-inducing thoughts from his mind. He could hear the mumble of the rest of his family talking and joking through the walls of the house, this came as a great comfort to him. He was thankful that his mum felt that the first day of school was a family occasion, therefor a family breakfast was a necessity.

He walked into the room where the rest of his family sat, except for his brother Bill who was currently travelling after just completing his last year at hogwarts. He sat himself down beside Percy, who was droning on and on about the importance of study, and how "just because they were only going into first year didn't mean they could slack off". Fred caught George's eye and they both had to smother a giggle, by the way Percy was acting you'd think he was a professor rather than your average third year student.  
Charlie saw the twins giggling to themselves and gave them a knowing wink. Charlie was going into his sixth year and was currently both a prefect and quidditch captain, though unlike Percy, he remained humble even with his many achievements.

"George will you pass me the butter." The smallest of the boys whined, snapping George out of his thoughtful trance. He picked up the dish of butter and began to pass it to his nine year old brother, but every time the boys hand got close enough to grab the dish, he'd yank it back, laughing. The small ginger pouted and folded his arms in a huff, causing George to snort with laughter.

"Here you go, Ronald" he said sincerely, going to hand the dish to him. Ron reached out to get it from him, but George yanked it back once more. The twins fell about laughing, their little sister, Ginny, giggled. Charlie shook his head smiling as Percy just rolled his eyes, snatching the butter from George and handing it to Ron who was still sulking.

"Are you all almost ready to go? We have to floo to diagon alley and walk to kings cross station so hurry up. The more time we have to spare the better." Molly Weasley instructed as she bustled into the kitchen, clearing plates.

"Ready Mum!" Percy said smugly. "I wasn't playing around like these lot."

Fred and George rolled their eyes at him.

"mmfmmreadymfmum!" Ron mumbled, as he stuffed his last slice of toast in his mouth and leaped out of his chair, knocking over his glass of orange juice while doing that.

"Oh for heavens sake, Ronald." she sighed as she cast a spell to mop it up. "Charlie dear, do you have everything? Is your owl in his cage?"

"Yes mum! Everything's packed and ready." He smiled. His natural charm dazzling Mrs. Weasley as he got up off the table, ruffling his little sisters hair as he passed and whispering a quite "lets go Gin!" to her, causing her to leap up link her arm with his. Her usual sassy nature completely melted away by her admiration for her older brother.

As the other siblings bustled into the living room, Mrs. Weasley pulled her twins into a tight hug, tearing up.  
"you're going to be okay, boys. If you need anything, Charlie and Percy will be there to help you." She said to them, almost as if she was convincing herself.

"We'll be okay mum, we have each other. Eh, George?" Fred smiled looking between the two.

"Too right, Fred." George replied, looking at his mum with understanding.

"Oh, you two." She said, swatting them towards the living room as she wiped a tear from her glistening eye. "Let's go before we're all late."

They stumbled into the living room, laden down with masses of luggage. Mrs. Weasley brushed them down and ensured the fireplace was prepped and ready for their travels. She held out the floo powder, letting them go through the fireplace one by one. George felt a sharp shiver of anxiety as he watched Fred disappear into the green flames, but shook it off as he grabbed a handful of powder and dropped it into the fireplace.

"Diagon Alley" He said clearly, and was whisked away into the bright green flames.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

George stumbled out of the fireplace in Diagon Alley. He coughed and spluttered as his siblings dusted themselves off. Fred steadied him and they stood in silence as they waited for their mother and Ginny.

George was uncomfortable in this silence. Himself and Fred weren't known to be quiet in the slightest, they usually managed to crack a joke or two no matter what the situation was. He knew Fred was just as nervous as he was, though neither of them would show it. They didn't tend to discuss their feelings much, it was easier to cope with humour and lighthearted banter, plus being a twin meant you could almost feel the other’s emotions or read their intrusive thoughts. He preferred it this way, he preferred staying quiet about his emotions while still knowing his twin could understand how he was feeling, he liked that he could be like a ray of sunshine splitting through the grey clouds of life, he liked how himself and Fred could put a smile on people's faces when they were at their lowest. He knew they could both be a lot sometimes, but in his eleven year old mind, this was fine. Laughing and pulling pranks was more important to them than anything else, they thrived to make people laugh and smile.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the fireplace lit up a glowing green once more, and their mum and sister stepped in, Ginny's trembling hands clutching their mums coat tightly.

"Right then, let's hurry, we need to make sure you're all on the train in time" Mrs. Weasley said, already walking out onto the main street, the twins and their older brothers dragging their trunks behind them. Ginny skipped ahead, recovered from the floo journey, while Ron dragged his feet and complained of hunger even though he'd eaten more breakfast than all the others combined. If George hadn’t been snapped out of his thoughts before, he definitely was now. He had almost completely relaxed and was in the mood for a bit of mischief.

Fred and George hung back a bit, joking together. They'd put some small prank items into George's bag and were planning on how to use them. They whispered intensely to each other, just out of the others earshot.

"Got the dung bombs, George?"

"Got the dung bombs, Fred."

"Where will we set them off?"

"I was thinking we put them in random compartments."

"set them all off at the same time?"

"sorted!"

They were still laughing and shoving each other as they made their way into Kings Cross station, where Mrs. Weasley was already helping Percy and Charlie put their trunks onto trollies.

"Come on, Fred I'll help you first." She hurried.

"I'm not Fred, he is!" Fred replied, pointing over and George who nodded in agreement.

"Honestly mum, we're not completely identical" George retorted, rolling his eyes.

"I don't have time for your silly games, one of you just put your things onto this trolly" she snapped, grabbing Fred's trunk as George grabbed another trolly, which Charlie helped him load all his things onto. Mrs. Weasley glanced at the clock.

"Quarter to Eleven, come on now! Platform nine and three quarters is it?" She said, hurrying them all towards platforms nine and ten before even hearing the answer, which Percy had replied a timid "yes" to. "Quickly, come on."

They pushed their way through a seemingly endless amount of hustle and bustle. Stressed businessmen rudely bumped everyone, anxiously looking at watches. Confused tourists huddled looking at maps or train schedules, blocking everyone's way. Trains whistled as people hurried to jump on before they departed, waving goodbye to loved ones seeing them off.

"Right, Charlie you first. Make sure everyone gets through safely." Mrs. Weasley said, tapping the tall ginger on the shoulder. He walked neatly through the barrier. She told Percy to go through next, then Ron. Once all three of them were through, she looked at the twins.

"George, you next." She said. "Quickly now, there isn't much time."

George took a deep breath, walking towards the barrier, making sure he looked confident as to hide the anxiety rippling through his bones. He closed his eyes when he reached the barrier, bracing himself for his new life for the next few years, and walked through.

"Alright, George?" Charlie smiled as he walked through, playfully hitting his little brothers arm.

"Alright, Charlie?" He said with a smirk as his twin walked through the barrier behind him, closely followed by the girls. This side of the barrier was just as busy, owls hooted as young witches and wizards hurried around, meeting their friends or saying their goodbyes to family. Some wore muggle clothes, some wore black robes, each with a different crest. The train whistled urgently, telling the young wizards that it would be leaving soon. Percy ran ahead "to get a nice, quite compartment to read", leaving the others to quickly hug their tearful mum and younger siblings.

"Bye Freddie, bye Georgie" Ginny said, hugging both boys quickly, the ghost of a tear in her eyes. "Don't miss me too much."

"Seeya." Ron said, awkwardly shuffling his feet.

"Oh my boys!" Mrs. Weasley cried, pulling them both into a giant bear hug. "I'll miss you both so terribly, write every week okay? Make sure to write to me tomorrow telling me what house you're in! and no pranks! I know what you're like and I don't want you getting expelled in your very first year."

"Don't be so sappy mum!" Fred said. “We won’t get expelled”

"Yeah, we'll write about all the fun pranks we pull, it'll be like we never left!" George smirked

"George! You better not-" she sighed. "well... quickly, on the train. Both of you, now!"

The two redheads climbed onto the train and walked into the nearest empty compartment waving out the window at their mum.  
"see you at christmas!" they shouted in unison as the train slowly began to move forward, whistling loudly. Mrs. Weasley, Ron and Ginny waved and waved as the two boys watched, until their family were nothing more that dots in the distance. Fred flopped down in a seat, George flopping down opposite him.

They smirked at each other.

"Freedom at last, eh Freddie?" George said, leaning forward to punch his brother in the arm.

"A whole seven years of pulling pranks, George." Fred winked. "We'll be legends."

They chatted about school and all the pranks they were going to pull in great detail, excited for the chaos, when they heard a light tap on the compartment door and it slid open.

"Alright! You two in first year? Can't find an empty compartment." A dark-skinned boy with incredible twists in his hair said, smiling at the twins.

"Plenty of room here!" George replied, smiling. "I'm George, George Weasley. And that there is my brother Fred."

Fred nodded in acknowledgement, smiling at the new boy.

"Lee Jordan" The boy smirked "Are you twins? Wicked! I've always wanted a twin, can you read each other's thoughts and stuff?"

"oh yeah" Fred said.

"Definitely" George nodded.

"Prove it then!" Lee said, collapsing down beside Fred and looking at them both, his eyes sparkling with eagerness.

"Alright... Fred what number am I thinking of." George said, raising an eyebrow.

"Eight." Fred replied

"Yes, that's just the number I had in mind." George said, leaning back in his seat.

Lee looked at them each in turn and then burst out laughing.

"oh wow..." he laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. "I'm definitely gonna get along with you two, my Mum reckons i'm trouble."

Fred and George exchanged a mischievous grin and looked back at Lee. Fred ensured the compartment door was closed and nodded at George.

"Open the bag, Georgie."

George opened his backpack, spilling the contents onto the seat beside him. Dungbombs and mini fireworks littered the seat and Lee's eyes widened with glee.

"Wicked!" He breathed, as Fred began explaining the plan for the rest of the journey to him.

George relaxed back into his seat once more, looking at Lee.

They'd definitely made a good friend.


	2. Trouble Begins

"So..." Lee began. "We're going to sneak these dungbombs into compartments?"

"Yep!" Fred smirked.

"...and they're on a timer, so we're setting them off at the same time?" Lee continued. "That way it's next to impossible to escape the smell!"

"You got it." George winked. "Planned it out ourselves."

"wicked!"

"Where do you reckon we start then." George asked, a gleam of mischief in his eyes. "I say we get a move on, wanna be back in our seats by the time the trolly comes."

"Well is there anyone's morning you want to ruin?" Lee laughed. "That might be a good place to begin our prank journey."

Fred and George exchanged a sly look, smirking at each other.

"Percy." they said together, looking at Lee.

"Percy?" Lee said in confusion. "Who's he?"

"Our darling brother." Fred said.

"Third year, sits near the front." George smirked.

"Always got his snobby nose in a book." Fred continued. "Shouldn't be too hard to sneak up on him."

"Deserves it anyway." George snorted. "Thinks he's better than us."

"Right, let's go then!" Lee said, jumping up. "If we start at the front we can work our way back."

"Brilliant!" George exclaimed. "I hadn't thought of that, lucky we got you eh?"

"The luckiest." Fred smirked, clapping Lee's shoulder happily.

Lee smirked at them both as he opened the compartment door. The twins stood up, which caused them to realise they were about a head taller than the other boy. The twins giggled at this and the smaller boy looked up at the twins and rolled his eyes, still smiling.

"Get a move on then." He said, pushing the two other boys out. "Let's go cause chaos."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three boys huddled outside Percy's compartment, just out of their brothers line of vision. He was sitting with three others, all of which he seemed to be ignoring as he was clearly completely distracted by his copy of "Magical law" , his glasses perched on his copper curls, so the chances of him seeing them even if they weren't hiding were low.

"How will we sneak it in without any of them seeing?" Fred asked, looking between the other two. "Percy'll know we're up to something if we just walk in."

"Not if Lee does it." George smirked back. "He'll know us Freddie, but he hasn't met Lee yet."

Lee's eyes lit up with excitement, you could almost see a plan forming in them. He raised his body off the wall he was leaning on and crept over to the door, which had been left ajar, before the other boys could say anything else. He confidently stepped in, the four passengers looked up as he did so. Percy put his glasses atop his eyes once more, meaning the twins had to quickly duck back so he'd not notice them lurking. Lee closed the door behind him so the twins couldn't hear what was being said, but he hadn't been kicked out yet so that was a good sign.

"New mate already." George said to his twin. "Wonder if he'll be in our house."

"If we're even in the same house." Fred laughed, nudging George with his elbow. "I might end up in Ravenclaw with this mind"

"Shut up, Git." George said, rolling his eyes. This comment got him thinking though... what if himself and Fred were in separate houses. He didn't mind what house he ended up in, none of them really seemed bad to him, even Slytherin just seemed like it was overlooked due to You Know Who being one of them. No. George was worried that he'd be split from his twin. Not that he'd ever say that, obviously, it was just a terrifying thought. He reckoned he'd be alright in his own house, maybe he'd feel less smothered, but prank plans would be much easier to come up with if he shared a room, or even a house, with Fred. Pranks were the most important.

"Reckon we'll be the next Marauders, Freddie." George asked. "They were legends a couple years ago."

"I reckon we will, Georgie." Fred replied. "I'd love to meet them... wonder who they were?"

"Don't know mate." George shrugged. "We'll have to figure that out ourselves, eh? Maybe get some tips from them."

"Prank royalty they were" Fred sighed, dreamily. "Hope we're like that."

"Have to keep planning then" George nodded. "maybe get some recruits to help us."

"We got Lee now." Fred smiled. "He'll be a good mate."

George nodded in agreement right as the third years' compartment door slid open, and an excited-looking Lee stepped into the hall. He confidently walked over to the twins.

"One down, lads!" He winked. "Let's keep doing then, trolly'll be here soon."

He began walking towards another compartment, Fred and George in hot pursuit. They took it in turns, making up various stories as distractions and sneaking dungbombs into cloak pockets, between trunks and under seats. They arrived back in their own compartment right as the confection trolly rattled up.

"Anything from the trolly dears?" a kindly woman smiled at them.

The twins were quite poor, so they pooled their bronze knuts and silver sickles together to get a few chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties. Lee got a couple of sweets too, though he didn't seem to think twice when handing up his money, even charmingly telling the woman to keep the change.

"You'll be real popular with the ladies if you keep up that charm." Fred teased lightly.

"Yuck, girls." Lee said, wrinkling up his nose. "who needs girls when you have pranks!"

"I agree." George nodded. "I'm not gonna have a girlfriend until i'm way older, maybe thirteen."

Fred and Lee nodded in agreement to this, opening their various sweets and munching happily, chatting about the pranks they were planning for the school year.

"When should we let the dungbombs off" Lee asked, opening a packet of Bertie Bott's every flavoured beans and offering them to the twins, who took some happily. "Cause we should probably do it soon if we want the smell to be gone before we arrive."

"Yeah good idea, I think that would be best." George said, popping a green bean in his mouth and immediately spitting it out. "urgh lettuce."

Fred snorted at this, also popping a green one into his mouth.

"I agree, let's do it this second." He said, chewing on his jellybean and smiling. "Green apple, nice."

George groaned and rolled his eyes as he set a timer so that the dungbombs would go off in exactly one minute .

"Have it set now." he said, his eyes beginning to glisten with mischief. "we'll count down from ten yeah?"

"Definitely." Fred smiled.

"For sure." Lee winked

They all watched the timer as it slowly grew nearer and nearer to the ten second countdown.

"Ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George."

"Ten" They, all three, said together.

"Nine"

"Eight"

"Seven"

"Six"

"Five"

"Four"

"Three"

"Two"

"One!!"

"UGH WHATS THAT SMELL" a disgusted voice shouted. "ITS LIKE SOMEONE DIED."

"URGH!!"

"GROSS"

"WHOEVER DID THAT IS A FOUL GIT"

The boys listened as doors slammed open and people coughed and complained, the boys sat giggling to themselves and High-fiving each other with excitement.

"Boys, looks like prank one was a success." Lee said, leaning into his seat.

George smugly looked at the door, where he could see the shadow of chaos happening outside. Oh yes, this was going to be a great few years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  


Both Fred and George fell asleep for the remainder of the train journey, and it seemed as only a few minutes after they’d finally drifted off, Lee was shaking them awake.

”Gettup Fred, Gettup George.” He said, prodding them. “We’re here!”

The boys jumped up and grabbed their things, their black robes swishing behind them as they ran out of their compartment and onto the platform, looking around and wondering where to go.

"Firs' years follow me" a huge man bellowed through the jabbering crowd of students who were exiting the train, jostling each other and laughing. The three boys pushed through the crowd and stood beside the man, who introduced himself as Hagrid. He had a bushy beard and a giant, heavy-looking overcoat, yet he had such a trustworthy and kindly face, George hoped he was a teacher as he seemed like he'd be easygoing. Hagrid smiled down at the big group of First Years as they all scampered to join him, and made sure they were all there before clearing his throat to get their attention.

"a'right you lot, follow me then!" he said, loudly, beckoning for them to follow him as he began to walk down a little path. "Don' be 'angin' around then, don' wanna miss the feast do ye?"

The eleven year olds followed him, some nervous and some excited, all of them slightly jogging to keep up with Hagrid's long strides.

They walked along the winding path until they reached the edge of a dark lake. There was a dock, where there were many little wooden boats bobbing up and down on the murky water.

"Four to a boat then!" Hagrid said, gesturing towards them. " 'op in then, don' be shy!"

The three boys raced to a boat and hopped in, fizzing with excitement. They were joined by a beautiful dark-skinned girl who introduced herself as Angelina Johnson, she smiled at them and they all excitedly rambled about this that and the other. They found out she was a half-blood, as was Lee, and that her muggle father had been thrilled to see she'd gotten the magic gene. The boats began moving slowly, under Hagrid's instructions, and George zoned out of the conversation, whichstopped not long after anyway, as their boats turned a corner and the glassy lake opened up to show miles of smooth water.

The students gasped as they saw their first glimpse of the magnificently grand Hogwarts castle, their boats speedily cut through the lake water and the silhouette of the castle drew nearer and nearer. George sucked in a breath as they sped towards it and before he knew it he was clambering out of the boat and onto the dry ground along with the rest of the first years. They marched through the castle and climbed up some stairs, where a stern looking woman was standing.

"Hello students, welcome to Hogwarts!" she said. "I am professor McGonagall. Now in a few moments you will be taken through to the great hall, where you will get sorted into your houses."

Many students nodded along to this, though just as many of students seemed extremely confused and looked out of their depth.

"Your house." McGonagall continued. "Is like a sort of family. You will share a common room, classes and dorms with your houses."

It seemed every student was somewhat on board now, George noticed.

"There are four houses -Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw-" She explained. "Your triumphs will earn points for your house, whereas rule-breaking will lose them. The house with the most points at the end of the year will win the house cup."

The students nodded in understanding, all of them on board with what she was saying, Professor McGonagall looked happy with this and gestured for them to follow her through the halls. They walked behind her, slowly, taking in the magical building and gasping in awe. They were only in a small corridor at that moment, George couldn't even to begin to imagine how ornate the Great Hall would look. He imagined how many secrets this castle could hold and grew excited, himself and Fred would have a field day finding the hidden mysteries, he hopped there'd be secret passageways.

They were led to a huge door, which opened into a gigantic room, there were four long tables where hundreds of students sat, as well as a grand table heightened at the end of the room which sat all the staff. McGonagall led them through the middle of the hall, George could feel the eyes of the students on the back of his head as they watched with interest. The students stopped them just in front of the teachers table, McGonagall placed a ratty old hat on a small stool, and it immediately began to sing, much to the students surprise. George didn't even register the lyrics as he watched the hat sing, his jaw slacked open in shock, this school really was full of surprises, it was magic. Before he knew it, the song was over and McGonagall was speaking again.

"... Now, i'll call each student one by one. When I call your name you'll sit on this stool, and i'll place the sorting hat atop your head." She explained. "Once sorted, i'll remove the hat and you will join your house. Is that okay?"

All the students nodded and the Professor began reading the names from a long piece of parchment she had held in one hand. George knew himself and Fred wouldn't be till near the end of the list, so he took the time to look around the hall. He looked up at the bewitched ceiling in awe as "Bletchley, Miles" became the first Slytherin.

The roof was bewitched in such a way that it resembled exactly how the sky looked outside, clear and star-filled, he wondered if he'd be able to do such magic after a few years practice.

"Davies, Rogers"

The boy next to George walked up to the front, slightly bumping the tall ginger's shoulder, snapping him back to reality once more. He shook his head and began attempting to pay attention to what was happening.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted, George began to get slightly more nervous now.

"Diggory, Cedric"

George looked over at his brother, who was chewing his bottom lip anxiously, looking exactly how George felt.

"Hufflepuff!" The hat shouted, and Diggory ran down to the to join the hufflepuff table, beaming.

Eventually, the J names began to be read out, Lee clenched his fists, knowing it was soon his turn, as "Johnson, Angelina" was called up and sorted into Gryffindor. She smiled brightly at the boys as she ran down to join the cheering table.

"Jordan, Lee"

Lee strutted onto the stage, smiling confidently as McGonagall placed the old hat onto his head. It seemed to consider its options for a few minutes, slightly longer than it had for the rest of the students until then, but Lee's confident smile didn't waver in the slightest.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted eventually, the gryffindor table cheering as Lee skipped down to join them.

It seemed the twins were waiting hours before the w's were finally reached. George gulped as "Warrington, Cassius" was sorted into Slytherin house.

"Weasley, George" McGonagall called out.

George took a deep breath and walked up to the front, feeling the eyes of a thousand students burning into the back of his skull. He smirked to try hide the anxiety he felt, and sat down on the small stool, feeling the professor lower the hat onto his head.

"Another Weasley eh? Got some of your brothers here before you. Seems you have a good brain ... though i don't think you'd use it for studies." the hat said into his. "Bit of soul searching to do I see, not quite sure of yourself.... Courage though, i see a lot of that. A bit of arrogance too... nothing to be ashamed of... better be... GRYFFINDOR"

McGonagall lifted the hat off his head as he walked down to the cheering table, his brothers, Percy and Charlie, clapping his back and congratulating him as he sat down next to Lee.

"Nice one, mate." Lee whispered, grinning at George, who grinned back, watching as his twin brother was, thankfully, also sorted into Gryffindor.

The sorting didn't last much longer after that, and before they knew it, a long-bearded wizard, who George knew was Dumbledore due to his extensive chocolate frog card collection, stood up to make a speech.

"Hello Students, and welcome back to another year at Hogwarts!!" He began. "Before we begin the feast, I need remind all students that the forbidden forest is out of bounds, enter only if you are searching for death."

A couple of students nodded at this statement, the first years looked incredibly confused. George immediately grew curious at what could be so terrible about this so-called “Forbidden forest.”

"...We ask prefects to ensure all students receive a timetable and that school rules are followed adequately, Mr. Filch also asked me to mention that there is to be no magic used in the corridors. Enough of that for now, though!" The old wizard said. "let the feast begin!"

as he uttered those last words, the plates in front of the boys were piled high with all the food one could possibly imagine. George looked at his twin, who caught his gaze.

"Wicked!" they said together, and immediately dove for food. George shovelled as much chicken pie and chips as he could into his mouth, as Fred piled his plate high with roast potatoes. Lee was looking at all the food in utter disbelief, eventually settling on a small serving of everything. They ate and ate until they were sure they could not manage another bite, but of course that's when the desserts appeared and the dessert stomachs came in full swing.

"A-Apple pie, and créme brulée, a-and CHOCOLATE CAKE!" Lee said excitedly, once again getting a small serving of everything.

George laughed as he also got a bit of everything, not wanting to miss out. Fred did the same, though his portions were much bigger and George knew for a fact he wouldn't even get close to finishing them.

"I think your eyes are hungrier than your stomach, mate" George laughed. "Save some for the rest of us, eh?"

Fred shoved him and muttered "git" under his breath, shovelling cherry pie into his mouth.

George laughed, eating as much of his dessert as he could manage and smirking when Fred in fact, could not finish his large portion. Once no one could possibly stomach another mouthful, the desserts vanished from sight as suddenly as they appeared and Dumbledore, once again, stood up to speak.

"Now that you've all stuffed yourselves to bursting point." He said. "I ask you all to retreat to your dorms, first years follow your prefects. I hope you all sleep well, and the best of luck to you in this coming year."

There was a clamour as all the students stood up, making their way to the door, pushing each other and laughing. Fred, George, Lee and the other Gryffindor first years, ran after the Weasley's prefect brother, Charlie, who led them through the winding corridors and up moving staircases until they reached a painting of a rather large woman.

"The fat lady!" George exclaimed. "Dad told me about this, said it's the entrance to the common room!"

"Wicked!" Lee said, almost bursting from excitement.

"First years!" Charlie said. "This is the entrance to our common room. The password is "Phoenix" but this will change throughout the year."

"Wicked password, I'd love a phoenix" Lee whispered.

Charlie turned and stated the password to the fat lady, who swung the portrait open to reveal a little archway into the most beautiful room coloured in the Gryffindor colours, red and gold, with a roaring fire crackling in the ornate fireplace.

"Boys dorms up those stairs, first door on the right" Charlie explained, pointing them to the stairs. "Girls, your dorms are higher, third door on the left."

They yawned as they trudged their way up the stairs and into their respected dorms, George was glad to see his things had already been brought up. He'd be sharing a room with Fred and Lee, which he was completely happy with. They changed into their pajamas and slid into their warm beds, falling asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillow, drifting into a dream filled rest.


	3. Pucey

Classes began the following Monday, much to the twins' excitement. Both boys were hoping they'd get to immediately blow things up, but Lee told them that probably wouldn't be the case.

"Mate, they don't even let the first years play quidditch on their house teams." Lee argued with them that Sunday night, when they brought up their enthusiasm regarding explosives. "They're definitely not going to let us blow things up when they won't even let us out on brooms without supervision."

Both boys knew Lee was right, but of course they kept their spirits up and were hopeful anyway as they walked through the vast castle in search of the Great Hall on their very first morning of classes. They discussed their timetable over large breakfasts, chattering excitedly as they nibbled corners of toast and sipped pumpkin juice. Lee and the twins were all incredibly excited for different lessons, Lee looking forward to Charms while Fred and George were much more excited for Defence against the Dark Arts.  
Lucky for Lee, charms was their first class on the first day, so he hurried through his breakfast and dragged the twins with him through the castle in hopes of getting a good seat. They managed to get to class five minutes early, as the twins were extremely good at navigating through the castle despite it being their third day, and sat down in the middle row on the left side of the room, seeing as the charms classroom was not set up like the others.

More and more students trickled in, sitting themselves down around the three boys. Angelina saw them sitting there and skipped over to them, followed by another girl who introduced herself as Alicia Spinnet, seating herself next to Fred. The five chatted together lightly, all looking forward to the classes. Both girls could hardly wait for flying class and informed the boys that they were going to try out for the quidditch team in their second year, to which the twins replied they also would be trying out. 

"I'm not great at quidditch." Lee remarked, lightheartedly "Guess I'll support you from the side."

He then immediately flew into a rant about quidditch players and teams, debating the rules with Angelina, both of them slightly shouting. Fred and George sunk back in their seats, making eye contact and smirking at each other. George felt that Lee and Angelina's argument was getting a little bit too heated, but just as he was about to step in, a small man with an oddly perfect moustache entered the room and everyone fell silent.

"Good morning first years and welcome to Charms class!" He smiled at them, standing atop a pile of books in order to see them all. "I'm professor Flitwick, and before you ask, no. We will not be blowing up anything as of now, we will not even be using magic until October."

The twins groaned and Lee gave them an "I told you so" look. Professor Flitwick took a role call and then went right into discussing the history of Charms and droning on and on about exams, homework, ect. George zoned out completely, scratching little doodles into the desk in front of him, and before he knew it Professor Flitwick was dismissing them for the day, smiling at them and bidding them jolly goodbyes. They all gathered their stuff, the twins stuffing their books and quills into their bags roughly, the girls shaking their heads at their carelessness and Lee rolling his eyes and laughing as they all walked through the halls towards the greenhouses for their herbology lesson, which they'd be doing with the hufflepuffs.

"Do you think their are any plants that blow u-" Fred began, thoughtfully.

"No." Lee retorted. "We won't be blowing up plants."

Fred pouted and George snorted at him, earning a shove from his brother. The girls hurried ahead, chatting between themselves, Closely followed by Lee. Fred and George hung back in a rough game of push and shove, both of them practically falling their way into the greenhouse.  
A kindly looking woman shook her head knowingly at the brothers as they stumbled in, smiling at them as they took their places either side of Lee. She introduced herself as Professor Sprout and after giving them all a warning about class behaviour, (George could have sworn she kept her eyes on himself and Fred as she said this), she gave an almost identical introduction speech to them as Flitwick had, only regarding Herbology rather than Charms. Lee was yawning, Fred and Angelina were whispering between themselves and George began playing with a long plant stem that was protruding through the wooden bench, which ended up biting his finger.  
He looked around the class as he rubbed his aching pointer finger, noticing that most people were either completely zoned out, whispering or looking around in awe, taking in their surroundings. Only Alicia Spinnet and a select few Hufflepuffs seemed to be genuinely interested in what Professor Sprout had to say. The lesson dragged on for what felt like years, even though George felt that herbology would be quite interesting once they get to the dangerous plants. Soon it was time for double potions with the Slytherins, which the twins were absolutely dreading. This lesson was taught by the Greasy-haired professor Snape, who was head of Slytherin house and therefore favoured them. Both Fred and George lost their house 5 points because they decided playing catch with a bezoar would be a good way to pass the time, and Lee lost a single point for answering a question incorrectly, much to the Gryffindors fury. Adrian Pucey answered a single question right and earned his house 10 points, which George was furious about and begin to move his lips to shout a “That’s Rubbish!” at Snape, but his brother held him back, whispering that they couldn’t afford to have Snape completely despise them on the first day, which George reluctantly agreed with.

Eventually, after all that, it came time for their double Defence against the dark arts class, which Fred and George were absolutely thrilled about, though it turned out to be a complete let-down as the old man teaching them turned out to only care about the theory side of the art, meaning they would not be using magic in that class for the foreseeable future. His name was Professor Fawcett and he seemed more than old enough to retire, George made a mental note to ask Percy or Charlie how long he’d been teaching. He also gave a welcome speech to all the first years —similar to the one they’d gotten from Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape— as did Professor McGonagall in transfiguration and professor Binns (who George was excited to see was an actual ghost) in History of magic in their first classes of those subjects the following day. All the first years knew the jist of this speech by heart after the first two days, and quoted it jokingly to each other throughout the day. Fred and George even took to lipsyncing along with the teachers once they knew it well enough, much to the amusement of their peers. By the end of the first week, the twins and Lee had deemed themselves the "class clowns" of sorts, and all the first years, along with some of the other years, knew their names and would greet them happily in the halls.  
Unfortunately, the teachers had also discovered how mischievous the boys were, and began keeping a close eye on them in classes, constantly taking house points off them due to their antics. Snape never let an opportunity to snatch a house point or two from them pass up, and quickly became the most hated teacher among the first years.

That friday night, after their first full week of classes, the boys were sitting in the common room, joking and talking as George and Lee played an intense game of exploding snap. They were starting to really begin to settle in and George was feeling excitedly mischievous, and by the looks of how Fred was skimming through "Hogwarts: a History", reading quickly, he was too. He suddenly exclaimed loudly, causing the two other boys to look at him in confusion.

"You what, mate." Lee said, confused. Fred didn't reply and simply began writing a million things down on a piece of parchment, the other two watched him for a couple of seconds, but when he didn't say anything more they just went back to their game until Lee decided to turn in for the night, leaving George to wait for Fred, who eventually looked up at his twin with a gleam of mischief in his eye.

"There are secret passageways in Hogwarts, Georgie." He whispered, holding up the parchment to see the research he'd done. "What do you reckon we go find one of them."

"Wicked!" George breathed. "Is that what you were so excited about? Where will we look?"

"Well I was thinking, they have statues around the school, yeah?" Fred started.

"Right." George replied. 

"... most of them have something to do with the school" He continued. "...but not all of them, like that weird statue of Gregory the Smarmy on the fifth floor."

George's eyes widened with realisation.

"So the statue must be there for a reason!" George grinned. "What are we waiting for then, let's go!"

With that they both snuck out of the portrait hole and made their way towards the statue in the east wing on the fifth floor. They ducked into many empty classrooms to avoid Flich, Mrs. Norris and Peeves the poltergeist as they snuck through the eerily quiet castle, until they eventually got to the statue. They looked at each other and began fumbling about the statue. Jabbing at its features and attempting to push it open. George was contemplating giving up completely until Fred accidentally stumbled as he tried to stand up from poking at the statues feet, and knocked against the wall, causing the bricks to open up to reveal a long winding passage. 

"wicked!" they said in unison, looking down the dark tunnel. They both stood in awe for a second until eventually Fred spoke up, saying exactly what George had been thinking

"We'll explore it another time, it's getting late." Fred said, as George nodded in agreement. 

“Probably shouldn’t tell Lee about it yet.” George replied. “Wanna make sure it’s safe first.”

“Yeah, I agree” Fred said. “It’ll be our secret for now.”

With that, they snuck their way back to the common room, up to their dorm, and into their comfortable four poster beds. Both fizzing with the utter excitement of revealing one of Hogwarts's secrets in their very first week, and getting away with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following weeks flew by in a blur of pranks and laughter. The twins grew closer with Lee, Angelina and Alicia, as well as some other students from other houses, and truly felt as if they were settling in. September drew to a happy close and October began with a loud shout from the twins, as Lee dropped a huge piece of information on them.

"6 days?!" Fred exclaimed, on the morning of October first as they were sitting in the Great Hall, just after they’d finished their breakfast. "Your birthday is in 6 days and you never told us?!" 

"There is no way in HELL your a Libra sun" George stated, gathering up his things and throwing a small ball of parchment at the smaller boy. "You're way more of a Leo"

"Leo moon" Lee replied, laughing at them and throwing the piece of parchment back at George. "I forgot to tell you both, i'm sorry."

"You will be sorry, you git" Fred said, punching his arm him playfully, also laughing. George rolled his eyes at them and also jumped in to pummel Lee with friendly punches across the table as Lee squirmed to escape them. Anglina and Alicia watched them with amusement as the three boys jostled each other, eventually ending with Charlie coming over and telling them they were irritating the others at the table.

"we *wheeze* have to go *wheeze* to class *wheeze*" Lee gasped, laughing and attempting to catch his breath. "I don't *wheeze* expect *wheeze* you to do *wheeze* anything for my birthday *wheeze* anyway"

Fred and George looked at him as Lee got up and walked towards the door. The girls told the twins they'd catch up with them and the two ran to catch up with Lee, who was waking slightly ahead. They picked up their speed and took their place either side of him, flopping lazy arms over the shorter boys shoulders.

"We're not letting our best mate go without a birthday party" George smiled from Lee's left side, shoving him lightly.

"Yeah, when we're done, you'll have the best party Hogwarts has ever seen" Fred exclaimed, shoving Lee slightly harder than George did, causing him to stumble slightly.

"We'll sort it out, don't worry your pretty head about it." George snorted , shoving him harder again.

"Me and Georgie have got you covered!" Fred said excitedly, shoving Lee again, causing him to retaliate and push them both into each other, all three giggling in unison.

"Oh also" George began. "Today's a Sunday, mate, we don't have class."

"Git!" Fred Laughed, slapping Lee's head and beginning to run up the staircase towards the Gryffindor common room, George hot on his heels and Lee running in an attempt to catch them both but stumbling because he was laughing still.

"Can't catch us! Can't catch us!" The twins shouted back at him in unison. They looked back at him as they ran, not noticing where they were going, laughing and making faces as Lee stopped to lean against the wall, wheezing from laughter, getting further and further out of the twins view as they ran ahead, still not paying attention to what's ahead.

*SLAM*

The twins ran straight into a burly slytherin, who had been reading a book while turning the corner of the draughty hallway, and all three fell over into a heap on the hard floor.

Fred and George jumped up immediately to help the other boy up.

"You alright mate?" Fred asked. "Didn't mean to run into you like that."

The other boy nodded, rubbing his shoulder. 

" 's alright" he said. "wasn't looking where i was going either."

George picked up the book the boy had dropped, “quidditch through the ages”, and handed it to the boy, who took it with a small, polite smile.

“You trying out for quidditch?” George asked, pointing at the book.

“Oh... yeah next year” The boy replied. “‘m only in first year right now, like you too.”

Lee jogged up behind them, recovered from the laughing fit, and stood beside George, grinning at the three boys.

“Alright George, Alright Fred.” He said, hitting them both lightly on the shoulder. “Alright Pucey!”

“Alright, Jordan.” Adrian Pucey nodded at him. He looked slightly uncomfortable, which Fred picked up on.

“We best be going, seeya later Pucey” Fred said with a grin.

“Seeya, mate!” George smiled at him.

Lee said nothing, but waved enthusiastically as they walked up the stairs to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

“Not up to mischief I hope, boys?” The Fat Lady said to them. “Don’t want Gryffindor loosing too many points.”

“You know us, good as gold” George winked at her. “Haven’t lost a point today, not one of us!”

“hmmmm right” she replied, unconvinced. “Well then, password.”

“Phoenix!” Lee exclaimed, excitedly. The Fat Lady swung open and they clambered into the common room, which was quite empty as it was a clear day and people were frolicking outside, and flopped down on the squashy cushions of the couches.

“So boys” George said, rubbing his hands together. “What are we going to do today.”

“I think” Fred began. “It’s time to start planning a proper prank.”

“Fred.” George smirked. “I was thinking the exact same thing.”

Lee smirked with excitement and the three leaned their thoughtful heads together, and began scheming.


	4. Caught

The boys murmured together, quietly, for quite some time, discussing various prank ideas, tactics and supplies. Other Gryffindors drifted in and out of the common room, not paying any attention to what the boys were doing, until eventually Percy slunk over, suspicious.

“Afternoon boys!” He said, in a very fake cheerful voice. “Not planning to cause trouble are we?”

The boys all turned to face him, Lee greeting him happily as if he was an old friend.

“Hullo Percy” The twins said together, smiling widely at their older brother. 

“No trouble here” George said. “Just discussing classes.”

“Lee needed help with with flying theory.” Fred replied. “Madame Hooch hasn’t got off his back since the first class.”

Lee nodded, this was technically true. George had noticed in their flying classes that Lee tended to hang back, carefully pushing off and only hovering for a few seconds. The twins had asked him about it but he’d simply shrugged it off, saying flying wasn’t his thing, though Madame Hooch was pulling her hair out trying to get him to actually move instead of just hovering. He didn’t seem to be planning on moving anytime soon though, which confused George since Lee had always seemed to be up for anything.

Percy seemed sceptical, but didn’t pry any further. He walked away over to his roommate, Oliver Wood. The boys exhaled with relief, making the agreed decision to discuss the plan further in their dorm. They ran up the the stairs, careful to avoid Percy, and shut their dorm door behind them.

George flopped on his bed, facing out towards where Fred was sitting on his own bed, rummaging through a box of prank material the twins had packed before they left. Lee lay down beside George, watching Fred, who looked frustrated.

“Give it here, Freddie.” George said, holding out an arm. “Lee and I will have a look.”

Fred handed it over. George sat up and put the box down between himself and Lee. 

“What about the fireworks?” George asked. “We’ve got plenty of them, could do something really big.”

Lee smirked, silently agreeing with him.

“Great!” Fred grinned “Where’ll we let them off?”

“What about a girls bathroom” Lee giggled. “that would be funny.”

“.. and we can do it when we know Angelina and Alicia are in there” George whispered. “They’ll never know it was us!”

“Brilliant!” Fred clapped. “We’ll bring the fireworks with us at all times, the we won’t miss an opportunity”

“Wicked!” Lee said. “Hopefully we’re not waiting too long!”

As it turned out, their opportunity came the very next day, as they were walking to lunch after potions. The three boys had held their breath the whole double class, terrified that Snape would somehow know that they had fireworks and confiscate them, and were almost desperate to be rid of them by the time the class came to an end.

“Hey, boys” Alicia called to them as they were walking towards the hall. “We’ll catch up with you alright?”

George whipped around to see them walk around the corner towards the girls bathroom. He exchanged a look with both Fred and Lee, and they all began sneaking the same direction, peeping around the corner to see the girls duck in through the door.

“Two of us should keep watch” Lee whispered. “We only need one to do it.”

“I’ll go!” the twins whisper-shouted at the same time.

“no, I’ll go” they whispered together, again.

“I will!” they whispered, a lot louder now, on the brink of a row.

Lee rolled his eyes.

“George, you go” Lee sighed “It was your idea to be fair, mate”

Fred looked annoyed, but reluctantly agreed with Lee. George smirked at him.

“Twat.” Fred growled.

“Takes one to know one!” George replied with a smirk. “now give me your fireworks.”

Lee and Fred rummaged through their pockets, taking out the small “Dr.Filibuster’s fabulous wet-start no-heat fireworks” and handing them to George, who was just putting them in his pocket when a low voice emitted from behind the boys.

“Well well well...” the voice started. “What do we have here.”

Mr. Filch, the aged caretaker, had turned the corner and caught them red handed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Detention!” Lee complained. “For a whole week!”

They slunk out of Mr. Filch’s office, not only had they received a weeks detention, but they also had to hand up all the fireworks they owned. They walked silently to their dorm, hoping that Percy hadn’t heard what they’d done. 

They muttered the password to the fat lady, and clambered into the common room where Charlie was waiting for them. He beckoned them over and began talking to them in a low voice.

“I heard what happened with Mr. Filch” He muttered. “I didn’t tell Percy because i know he’d flip out, but please don’t try and get into more mischief.”

“The mischief has been managed.” George said. “Business is done, we’ll be out of your hair for a bit.”

“Yeah, we promise Charlie.” Fred said, secretly winking at George. “I swear!”

“I solemnly swear!” George retorted. 

Lee stifled a giggle at this, and had to turn away, masking it as a coughing fit. Charlie looked unconvinced, but broke a small smile as he shook his head at them.

“Should’ve known what you’d be like, born on April 1st” He laughed. “You should really put your brainpower towards something other than pranks, I mean you’re not going to be running some sort of joke shop for a living.”

He patted both their shoulders and walked away, talking about a care of magical creatures exam that he needed to study for. They both uttered a “Bye Charlie!” as he walked in the other direction, then linked their arms either side of Lee and steered him towards their dorm, yanking him up the stairs and then kicking the door shut behind them.

“Right” George said, flopping down on the bed in the same place he had the previous night. “I say we get our fireworks back.”

“I agree” Fred said. “What say you, Lee?”

“Brilliant!” Lee said. “We can use a dungbomb to drive him out of the office, and then one of us can swoop in and grab the fireworks!”

“Brilliant, Lee!” The twins shouted, clapping him on the back in utter excitement. “You’re brilliant!”

“Should we go now?” Fred asked. 

“No, i say we wait until our detention is over.” George replied. “Filch’ll be expecting us, plus we don’t want a worse punishment.”

“Yeah, i say we wait.” Lee nodded. “Now, come on! We’ve got class, we already missed lunch!” 

With that, their conversation ended and they went about their normal day, they passed notes in Defence against the dark arts, helped each other with homework and laughed with the girls at dinner. George had almost completely forgotten about their plan until much later that night, when Fred snuck over to him in the common room after Lee had turned in for the night 

“Georgie, not busy are you?” Fred said in a low voice.

George looked up from his Transfiguration book, which he had been doodling on, and shook his head curiously.

“What’s up, Freddie?” He asked.

“Well, I was thinking.” he began. “The fireworks, we need them back.”

“I agree.” George replied. “We probably should wait though, Filch will expect us to try steak them back.”

“You’re probably right.” Fred sighed. 

“I wanted to use the leftovers for Lee’s birthday too” George said, knowing what his brother was thinking. “Tell you what, we’ll steal them back on Friday, the night before Lee’s birthday.” 

“Yeah okay!” Fred smiled “Dinner time, that’s the best time.”

George nodded. “Yeah, no witnesses in the corridors.” 

They exchanged a smirk and high fived happily, before deciding to play a couple of games of exploding snap with Charlie and Oliver Wood, with Percy huffing at them in annoyance, complaining that the game was “much too loud for this time of nights.”  
They just laughed at him and eventually he got tired of complaining and joined in, laughing along with them as he beat Fred, George and Charlie all in a row.

“Right, mate.” Oliver said, cracking his knuckles. “Bet you can’t beat me.”

Percy gave the quidditch player a playful wink, which was, in George’s mind, suspiciously out of character, as the two began their game. It was a very tense game as they were both talented players, but it eventually ended with Oliver taking the win. He whooped with excitement and pumped his fist, high fiving the twins and Charlie as he danced victoriously around the common room. George snuck a glance at Percy, expecting him to be angry as he was quite competitive and didn’t take loosing well, but was surprised to see a tiny smile on his brothers face, his eyes gleaming with an emotion George couldn’t quite make out. His brother caught George looking and gave a small eye roll, as if to signify that he wasn’t happy with the loss, George gave him a curious look, but then immediately went back to taunting him along with his two other brothers and Oliver. 

They decided by then that it was time for them to go to bed, as it was way past midnight at this point. The boys hurried to their respective dorms and the twins flung themselves into bed, Lee’s soft snores echoing through the room.

“Fred?” George asked, Percy’s expression still fresh in his mind. “D’you see Percys face when he lost the game?”

“Cant say i did Georgie.” Fred laughed. “Why? Bet he was fuming.”

“Haha.. yeah it was something alright” George said, trying to sound casual. He made the mental note to ask Percy about it someday, when they weren’t fighting. It took him a while to fall asleep that night, though he was exhausted from the eventful day, he assumed it was just stress from them being caught, but he couldn’t help but wonder about his older brother, and the change in him he’d seen that day.


	5. Mischief Managed

"Let's go, Georgie." Fred whispered to his twin as the two were finishing off the polishing Filch had them doing for detention. It was Thursday night and Lee's birthday was the following day. The two other boys felt awful about the fact they'd have to do detention on the night of his birthday and had practically begged Charlie to try get them out of their last two nights. Unfortunately he'd only been able to get them one night off, though on the plus side this meant they could have Lee's official party on the Saturday.

Even though they had the party to look forward to, the twins had decided that they needed to make his actual birthday as memorable as possible, which was why they were sneaking through the halls at eight o'clock at night towards Filch's musty office, armed with dungbombs and determination. Professor Flitwick was the only person they ran into on their way there, luckily, and with a quick lie about heading towards their common room he let them go, which they were grateful for since most of the other professors would immediately be suspicious of the two jokesters wandering around at this time. They arrived at the rundown door of Filch's office and hid behind a nearby suit of armour to officiate their plan, though their wasn't really much to it other than to throw the dungbombs in through the wooden door and then belt it back to their hiding place. They prepared themselves and began to creep towards the door, ensuring that Filch's asshole of a cat, Mrs. Norris, wasn't in pursuit of them. They both giggled madly as George grabbed the brass door-handle and began to slowly creak open the aged wood. "Who's there?" barked Filch's gruff voice as his ears picked up the tell-tale squeak of the opening door. "Peeves that better not be you, I'll get the baron after you if it is, don't test me right now." The twins stiffled their giggles as they took the dungbombs out of the pockets of their robes, trying their very best to be silent as neither of them wanted another detention, and George reckoned that breaking into a member of staff's office would earn them much more than a week. He caught his brother's eye and held up the bomb.

"Ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George."

both silently rolled their bombs in through the crack George had inched open and backed away towards the suit of armour, hiding behind the heavy metal and poking their heads out either side in an attempt to see what was happening. George had the perfect view of the office door, so when the *BANG* of the dungbomb echoed out of the room, he could perfectly see the shadow of Filch's frustrated movements through the browned window as he rose himself up from his desk, holding a crusty handkerchief over his quivering facial features as he tried to hide from the smell. George ducked behind the armour as the enraged man threw open the door with a clatter and stormed down the corridor, muttering angrily to himself. The twins held their breath as he stormed past their hiding place, the twins picked up a few words as he did so, "...Peeves....Baron...That'll teach 'em..." George sighed in relief as he realised that Filch thought Peeves the Poltergeist had been the culprit, and had therefor gone in search of either him or the Bloody Baron, the ghost of Slytherin house who was said to be the only one who could control the mischievous Poltergeist. 

"Quickly, Fred." George muttered. "We can run in while he's out searching for Peeves."

Fred simply nodded in response, as the two didn't want to be any way loud in fear of being caught once more, so after quickly checking to make sure the coast was clear, the two redheads tiptoed quietly into the office. Fred shut the door behind them gently as George began poking through the mountains of confiscated items, hurriedly searching for their fireworks. "Look at all this, George!" Fred gaped in awe, as he swivelled his head around dizzyingly, looking at the items.

"Brilliant isn't it!" George smirked. "Reckon Filch would notice if we took some extra supplies?"

Fred didn't answer this question as he had gotten completely distracted by colour powders, pocketing a few as he looked which gave George the answer he'd been hoping for, so he turned back to the monstrous pile to continue searching, satisfied with the unspoken agreement. He tossed a couple of broken teacups to the side, they'd been searching for a while now and George began to feel unnerved at the thought of Filch bounding through the door and catching them, he almost felt like giving up and by the look on Fred's face, he felt the same. He began weighing out his options in his head as he brushed through some spell-check quills, would they be better to continue their search or to call it a day? He was just about to ask for Fred's opinion when he caught a glimpse of the tail end of one of their fireworks, he dug into the pile and pulled the bag, in which they were all in, out carefully. He opened the bag to ensure they were all there, tossing an old piece of parchment that had, for some reason, been in the bag over his shoulder, which Fred caught, and whooped with joy as he realised they were not missing one firework. The two breathed out a sigh of relief and hurried out into the corridor with the goodie-filled bag, only just slipping around the corner before they heard Filch return to his now extremely messy office. George couldn't believe his luck and grinned at his brother, who looked extremely relieved. They began giggling as quietly as they physically could as they turned to begin walking back towards their common room, their silent giggles only getting louder as they heard the annoyed shout of Filch as he saw the state in which his office was in. Knowing that they'd been lucky the entire night, the two boys sped walked back to through the deserted corridors towards their common room, knowing their luck would soon run out. They were right.

They arrived at the portrait entrance, happily convinced that they hadn't been caught. Fred began to say the password when a stern voice spoke.

"Care to explain yourselves?' Professor McGonagall stated, standing in front of the two tall boys, eye level to them but somehow seemingly towering over them. She gestured towards the fireworks and raised her eyebrows expectantly, waiting for an explanation as to why the twins were roaming around the corridors after hours, laden down with prank supplies.

The boys hesitated for a moment, though George knew that lying at this point would just get them into more trouble, so he decided to tell the absolute honest truth in the most charming way his eleven year old brain could possibly do.

"It's not what you think, Professor." George started, sighing. "We weren't causing trouble, well at least tonight we weren't."

"It's Lee's birthday tomorrow, and we didn't have any proper presents for him so we thought we could have a few fireworks." He said, calmly. "Just as a birthday hurrah"

Fred nodded in agreement, Professor McGonagall's face stayed stern and still.

"We don't have much money you see, and we wanted to do something fun to make up for it! Especially considering his party isn't 'til Saturday" He continued. "We can't have him doing nothing exciting tomorrow. We're only going to let off one or two we promise!"

McGonagall widened her eyes, a hint of sadness in her eyes as she next spoke to them.

"Well I suppose.." She said, bowing her head and shaking it slightly. "We haven't had a proper birthday celebration since James and Siriu- Yes, I suppose if its only one or two."

The boys grinned brightly as she continued.

"...Oh how you remind me of them, so young and mischievous" She smiled, sadly, wiping a tear from her eye as she spoke. "Such big dreams... such a pity..."

The twins looked at each other, and Fred awkwardly cleared his throat, both of them stumped on what to say. This sudden sound seemed to break McGonagall from her slight trance and she immediately became stern again.

"Now. Bed. Both of you." She snapped, stating the password to the fat lady and shooing them inside. "...and only one or two, I'll be keeping a close eye on you both."

George noticed the slight hint of a friendly smile trace her thin lips as he entered through the portrait hole, he noticed her emotion and spoke in a low voice to Fred about the situation as they climbed the old stairs towards their dorm room, where they assumed Lee would already be.

"Who was she talking about?" George questioned. "Who are James and Sirius?"

"Dunno, mate." Fred replied. "Sound like right jokers to me"

"Must've been" George laughed as they drew nearer to their dorm. "McGonagall seemed to remember them for their pranks, considering how she looked at those fireworks."

"She better remember us like that." Fred smirked as he opened the door to their dorm. "We better be remembered for our legendary pranks."

George stopped abruptly, realisation dawning on him as Fred's words sunk into his mind.

"Freddie?" George said, in a low voice. "They were remembered for pranks."

Fred looked at him in confusion, cocking one eyebrow up.

"Yeah?" He said, slowly.

"...and they were Gryffindors..." George continued. Yes, the more he thought about it the more it made sense in his mind, it just fit. "Freddie, think about it! Really think about it!"

Fred looked at him for a moment, and then looked away in thought. A few seconds passed before he looked at his twin once more, his eyes dancing with the same realisation George had felt just a few moments before.

"You think she was talking about them?" He gaped. "Like.. THEM them?"

George nodded, grinning.

"The Marauders." He replied, smiling as Fred's face began to glow with excitement.

"...she thinks we're like them!" Fred exclaimed. "Professor McGonagall think's we're the next marauders"

George was about to reply, but was silenced abruptly as he noticed swirling lines of ink appearing on the old piece of parchment that Fred had accidentally kept a hold of after George had tossed it to him in Filch's office. In his hurry to leave, Fred had never put it down.

"Fred! The parchment, look!" He said excitedly. "What's it say Fred, read it!"

Fred looked at the parchment as twists of black and red ink formed words on the dirty old parchment. The twins huddled over it and began to read the passage that had formed.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs 

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers 

are proud to present 

THE MARAUDER'S MAP"

"The Marauders map!" George breathed

"Something has drawn you here to be understood 

You are capable of doing great things 

Solemnly swear to us the swear a true prank artist would 

and your mischievous dreams will come true"

"Wicked!" Fred laughed.

“Once Mischief have been Managed 

Let us know 

So we can hide the secrets 

That were once on show"

"Freddie? School is about to get a whole lot more interesting" George smirked.

"Right you are, mate" Fred nodded. "Right you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I make chapters longer? Or are they okay? Let me know if you have a sec <3


	6. Lee’s Birthday

“Happy Birthday too you! Happy birthday to you!”

“Happy birthday to Lee-ee”

“Happy birthday to you!”

The twins sang their hearts out. Their tired friend, rolling his eyes as he leaned over, ripping open his bed’s curtains to allow the morning sun to leak in, and grabbing one of his arms each, forcing him to sit up as he groaned in protest.

“Lemme sleep in, mate.” Lee mumbled in annoyance as the twins flaunted around him, flopping back down and burying his head in his pillow. “It’s my birthday”

“Which is exactly why you need to get up now.” Fred said, poking Lee’s head, causing him to bury himself deeper into his pillow. “The sooner you get up the longer your birthday will last”

Lee simply burrowed deeper into his soft quilt, only leaving a few of his long dreadlocks uncovered by the masses of blanket.

“If you get up now, we’ll let you stay up late tonight” George whispered, as Lee rolled his eyes with a light smile and lazily dragged himself out from under his burrow of covers and sitting up. George lightly hit is arm as Lee perched himself up on his elbows and stretched. “That’s it, mate! We haven’t got all day.”

“Alright, Mums.” Lee laughed tiredly, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “I’m getting up, I’m getting up.” He stood and slumped his way over to his trunk, digging for his robes and dragging his feet to the bathroom to change and freshen up, closing and locking the door behind him. Once the twins were sure he was out of earshot, they began discussing their plan for the upcoming breakfast.

“So George, you got the charms sorted then?” Fred asked with a sly grin.

“I was up all night, mate.” George replied. “Turns out that a simple charm isn’t actually that simple for a wizard who hasn’t even finished chapter one of ‘The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1’”

“...but you got it?” Fred asked, hopefully.

“Obviously, you just have to wave your wand in this motion...” George said, demonstrating a swirly wand movement as Fred watched. “... and say the incantation ‘movimenti’”

Fred nodded, silently practicing the movement and muttering under his breath while pacing the room until Lee eventually arrived back and goggled at him with confusion.

“What are you at, mate” He asked suspiciously. 

“Nothing!” Fred said quickly. “Just practicing for Flitwick’s class”

George, sensing that Lee was suspicious of what his two red-haired friends were up to, quickly ushered them down to the common room where Angelina and Alicia were waiting for them. As soon as they arrived down the two girls tackled Lee into a huge bear hug and wished him a happy birthday, Lee hugged them back willingly and began chattering excitedly with them about his plans for the day and how good it felt to be twelve years old at last. He was significantly older than the rest of their year, but George knew it was because all wizards were required to be at least eleven years of age to attend the school, which meant even though Lee should technically be in the year above them, he wasn’t.

The girls linked arms with Lee and pulled him through the portrait hole, closely followed by the twins who were still quietly discussing the boring parts of their plan to make sure it all ran smoothly. They watched Lee skip ahead with the girls as all three giggled with glee and a slight excited smile grew on George’s face, he was extremely excited about this plan and he knew it would make Lee happy, therefor he was determined to make sure it worked.

The five of them entered the huge hall for their breakfast and made their way to their usual seats at the Gryffindor table. A couple of people wished Lee a happy birthday as they strutted past and he thanked them cheerily, he was in an extremely good mood that George felt could not be dampened. He admired how carefree and open Lee was, he felt he’d known him all his life and could easily read his emotions even though they’d only known each other a month. “A true friendship” he thought happily to himself, as he slid into his seat beside Angelina and began munching toast and marmalade, Fred was fiddling with the fireworks he smuggled in and George gave him a hard glare as if to say “Put those away.” Fred understood and snuck them back into his cloak pocket, luckily Lee hadn’t noticed as he was eagerly watching as a huge barn owl swooped down and dropped a massive package in front of Lee’s excited face with a clatter. 

“Wait, Lee!” George said. “Don’t open it yet, something else might arrive for you!”

...and sure enough as he said that, an old owl skidded across the table with a neatly wrapped package addressed to “Mr. Lee Jordan”, Lee untied the package from the owl’s leg as Fred uttered an annoyed “Errol!”  
Angelina and Alicia both handed him small packages too, which Lee shook happily, trying to guess what was inside. He was distracted by the parcels, so the twins took this opportunity to sneak the fireworks out of their pockets, they caught each other’s eye and nodded, grinning. 

“Three” Fred mouthed at George.

“Two...” George mouthed back, silently.

“One!” They shouted together, setting the fireworks off with a hiss and a bang!

Lee jumped in his seat, his eyes glistening with joy as he looked at the brightly coloured stars hanging in the sky. Everyone was smiling at cheering as the twins shouted “MOVIMENTI” and waved their wands in a ridiculous spiral so that the bright sparks moved to form the slightly wonky letters “L- E- E”  
The twins high-fived each other, realising their spell worked, and Lee clapped with joy as the rest of the hall cheered. The sparks fell over the students like glitter and everyone reluctantly went back to their breakfast, but now with huge grins on their faces. Lee smiled brightly, breathing a happy “thank you”, his cheeks pinking slightly with pure exhilaration.

He began unwrapping his presents, his hands shaking slightly from the event that had just unfolded. Both Alicia and Angelina had got him sweets, Bertie Bott’s every flavoured beans from Alicia and Peppermint toads from Angelina. Mrs. Weasley had also sent him a gift, a homemade cake and some chocolate frogs, with a note attached wishing him a happy birthday and telling him she hopes they meet soon, and also apologising in case it was late arriving as their owl “wasn’t very reliable” 

“Nice of your mum to do that!” Lee smiled. “Must be where you too get it from.”

“Aw.. don’t be sappy now Lee.” The twins teased, though George was secretly delighted.

His parents had sent him some new quills and a book, along with some new socks and clothes and also, to Lee’s delight, a karaoke mic. 

“What in Godric’s name is that.” Fred asked, pointing at the mic in confusion.

“A karaoke mic!” Lee said. “It’s for singing, me and mum used to have one when i was younger, it was always great fun!”

“That’ll be perfect for tomorrow!” George said happily. “Muggle inventions will really take this party to another level!”

“Party?” Lee asked in confusion, Fred nudged George in the ribs, hard.

“Oh yeah!” George said, rubbing his side and glaring at Fred. “Surprise! We planned a party for tomorrow night!”

“Wicked!” Lee smirked. “don’t we have detention though?”

“Charlie got us out of it, so as long as you don’t get in trouble between now and then you’ll be- Oh hello” Fred began, but was interrupted when Pucey, the small Slytherin they’d become quite acquainted with, slunk over to their table.

“Happy birthday, Jordan!” He said, smiling slightly and dropping a chocolate frog and a small note down on the table.

“Thanks, Pucey!” Lee smiled, raising his right eyebrow slightly. George hadn’t realised that they were on birthday present terms with Pucey. The Slytherin boy simply nodded at them and turned to walk back to his own house table. Lee read the note and smirked slightly, tucking it into his robe pocket and continuing his breakfast. 

They walked to their first class, charms, together. Many people wished Lee a happy birthday which he responded with overjoyed “Thank you!”’s and a beaming smile. They sat in their usual seats as Professor Flitwick strolled in, wishing Lee a happy birthday as he conjured up a birthday hat which Lee immediately snapped onto his head with delight. The class seemed to go by in a blur of excitement and chatting and then suddenly, what felt like ten minutes later, they were packing up their bags and heading towards the door to go to their History of Magic class, they were about to leave when an excited Professor Flitwick called out to them.

“George? Fred? I’d like a word with you.” He said. “It won’t take a minute.”

After getting the girls and Lee to promise to tell Professor Binns that they were going to be late, the twins stepped back into the charms classroom and walked up to where Professor Flitwick was standing, he beckoned for them to come over.

“You’re not in trouble for once boys, so don’t worry” He assured them, smiling. “I just had to mention the excellent use of charms I witnessed this morning!”

The twins smirked happily as Professor Flitwick continued.

“Now, I know I shouldn’t be encouraging these types of pranks, but I am extremely impressed.” He smiled. “I know it’s said to be a simple charm but for your age and skill level that is really quite impressive.”

“Thank you, Professor!” They said in unison.

“You both have brains, especially for charms!” He encouraged, wobbling on the books he was standing on as he patted them both on the back. “You’ll do great things if you put your mind to it.”

The twins just smiled at him, for once both of them were lost for words.

“Now I won’t keep you any longer.” He said. “Hurry along to your next class!”

The two red-heads thanked him and hurried out of the room, whooping with delight as they ran through the halls to the history of magic classroom, skidding to a stop when they reached the door and sauntering into the classroom pink-faced and smiling. 

“Joke shop here we come!” George whispered to his twin.

“You wish!” Fred whispered back as they sat down either side of Lee, who immediately began questioning them about what happened with Flitwick, to which they gave short, mysterious answers to, causing their friend to pry even more. 

The rest of the school day went by blissfully, many more students wished Lee a happy birthday. Professor Sprout was in an extremely good mood in their herbology lesson, even giving him no homework. Professor Snape simply ignored the three of them in their double lesson that afternoon, which was extraordinary for him considering he usually took at least a point off each one of them every lesson, so by the time dinner rolled around, they were delighted.

“Not a point lost today” Lee said happily, as he tucked into Shepard’s pie at dinner that evening. “Not even in Snape’s class!”

“Maybe he does have a heart after all” Fred sighed, dramatically, causing Angelina to choke on her pumpkin juice from laughing.

“I doubt it.” George laughed. “We were just absolutely angels today!”

The five of them erupted into giggles with this statement, all of them struggling not to choke on their meals as they attempt to catch their breath. They were all on a high from their amazing day and were giggling at the slightest things, George felt as if he was floating on a cloud of tranquility.

“So...” Alicia said, as soon as she got her breath back. “Are you excited for your party tomorrow Lee? Fred and George invited half the school!”

“Half the school?! Wicked!” Lee clapped. “Did you invite Pucey?”

Fred and George nodded, smiling at him.

“We invited our whole year!” George smiled. “Some of the second and third years too, Charlie said he’d make sure the common room was empty for us!”

“None of the older students should bother us” Fred said. “Charlie said as long as we’re not too loud we can have the common room to ourselves!”

“What are we going to wear?!” Angelina asked, mostly to Alicia, though of course the twins couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

“I’m wearing my new frilly pink blouse!” George stated. “What about you, Fred?”

“Ah yes that blouse really brings out your eyes!” Fred nodded. “I’ll be wearing my green sequinned skirt.”

“What a lovely choice” George smirked. “And for the man of honour, Lee?”

Lee was stifling his giggles as he answered the twins. Angelina and Alicia were laughing so hard that they had tears running down their faces.

“Well of course my white croptop and jeans” Lee said once he’d composed himself. “I’ll be the star of the show.”

“Star of the show?” George gasped, placing his hand on his heart in mock shock. “I think with my blouse, I’ll be the true star.”

“Not if my skirt and I have a say in it” Fred stated, slamming his fork down in fake anger. “No one outshines the sequins.”

The girls burst out laughing once more, the twins caught Lee’s eye and the three of them began laughing too. They laughed until they couldn’t breath, clutching their sides and wheezing. George wanted to pause this moment and live in it forever, it was so effortlessly perfect. 

They skipped up to the common room, the group still giggly and light from the days events, and flopped down to play lazy games of exploding snap and gobstones with whoever was willing as the sky began to change from blue, to pink, to purple, to black and the stars began to glitter brightly. The common room was full of chattering students and was so loud yet so peaceful. The five first years relaxed, munching on Lee’s cake and sweets and chatting softly together, enjoying the last remaining hours of the first birthday ever shared by the five in Hogwarts.


End file.
